An Indian state-run refiner plans to load up to three Suezmax crude oil shipments, or about 99,300 barrels per day (bpd), from Iran this month in defiance of the illegal US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) executive director, B. K. Namdeo, said on Thursday that his company will buy the Iranian oil in August using Tehran's own tankers and insurance, Reuters reported. HPCL has a deal to import 60,000 bpd oil from Iran in the current fiscal year ending March 2013, including an optional purchase of 20,000 bpd. So far, HPCL has imported about 5 million barrels. India has announced that it will offer state-backed insurance to tankers importing crude oil from Iran. Chairman of the Shipping Corporation of India Sabyasachi Hajara said in early August that his company will soon start offering the insurance coverage as Indian insurers have agreed to give as much as USD 100 million of cover per voyage. The insurance service will help India's biggest buyer of Iranian crude, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), and other state processors secure supplies. Iran was the fourth-biggest supplier of crude to the South Asian nation in the year which ended in March, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India. On January 23, under pressure from the United States, the EU foreign ministers approved new sanctions against Iran's oil and financial sectors. The sanctions, which prevent EU member states from purchasing Iran's oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1. Presstv
